


The World In Your Hand

by jehane18



Category: Ensign Sue Must Die!, Justin Bieber (Musician), Pop Music RPF
Genre: F/M, Gen, Law School, Self-Insert, equitable estoppel, promissory estoppel is a shield and not a sword
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-22 22:57:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6096706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jehane18/pseuds/jehane18
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Law school module on equitable estoppel, as illustrated by a case study featuring commercial litigator you/bored client JBieb</p>
            </blockquote>





	The World In Your Hand

He'd attempted to dress for the occasion - neat button-down checked shirt and skinny tie, sober jacket and pressed trousers - but the sober outfit couldn't contain him. He drummed his fingers on the Firm's lacquered conference table, shifted his lean body from side to side in the ergonomic Herman Miller chair. His cheek moved, like he was chewing bubblegum the color of his famous mouth.

She wanted to explain to him the classic European convention of never ( _ne-never_ ) pairing a button-down check with a tie. Obviously the tie needed to come off. Or the shirt. Or -- she needed to get a grip.

His lips parted. Instead of the list of expense items she'd asked for, what emanated was, "So didja watch the Teen Choice Awards last night? My boy Usher told me Selena was there after all. Man, Scooter was right, it was good I didn't go."

Scooter was his no-nonsense agent and minder, and his absence this afternoon (apparently he had to make a charity doughnut run) was keenly felt in the lack of headway they'd made. 

_When you knock me down I will not stay on the ground._

She tightened her hold on her office-issue Pilot pen. Clearly he hadn't listened to a word she'd said for the last hour and a half. Maybe that made two of them. 

"Mr..." She couldn't say it. Her co-workers kept making fun of words that rhymed with Bieber, like _Mister_ and _fever_ and from Matt in the engineering disputes practice group, _cantilever_ ; she just couldn't switch off the song in her hindbrain. " _Justin_. Really need you to work with me here. My boss is coming back in an hour and she wants me to have finished taking client instructions."

"Noproblemo," he said, easily. He leaned forward in his chair. "Can you explain that thing again? I'm sorry, I didn't get what your Ms. Tanner meant, about _promisors reasonably expecting forbearance on the part of promisees_ and being binding and stuff. And I didn't want to stop and ask her, 'cause she's kinda scary?" He held her gaze, a beat too long. "But you're not."

The textbook definition came easily to her, thanks to the years at law school and the Bar. She remembered the time when it didn't, though, and realized how she could explain it to him.

"How it works is this: say my friend Jay promises to take me to a Justin Bieber concert in NYC. In reliance on Jay's promise, I spend money on plane tickets and a seriously rocking new outfit. If she reneges later, before the concert, I can sue her for the cost of the things I did in reasonably relying on the promise."

She cleared her throat and made herself look at him so he would find it easier to concentrate. It didn't make things easier for _her_ , but according to Tanner, the client was always the priority.

"So, here, you guys didn't sign a contract with 199 Entertainment, and that's why you can't sue for breach of contract. But 199 undertook to promote you at the VMAs and the Russian Grammys, and your company hired all those tanks and fighter jets for the concert in reliance on that promise before 199 bailed. That's equitable estoppel, and you can sue for that, in this state, anyway." 

He frowned and leaned further forward, considering her explanation. He inched his fingers closer to her yellow legal pad. His lashes were longer than any girl's, his eyes almost transparent. 

"...How rocking is this new outfit?" he enquired, at last.

She wanted to throw her hands up in the air. She wanted to kiss him senseless, or even more senseless. _Never never say never._

"Let's go over this one more time," she said, firmly, and he sighed and moved his hand away.

**Author's Note:**

> for paitac on LJ, to help her with Contracts 101 ;)


End file.
